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    • 29697
    • 24 Posts
    its all very well having a descriptive section on widgets in the docs but where in hell are they in Modx, how do you use them?????
    my main gripe about modx is a serious lack of howto’s right across the board
    the docs are virtually no help to a newbie, fine for an experienced guy for reference, crap for anyone else.
    a reference means nothing if you cant find it in modx anywhere
    if i knew how to do it i would write the docs myself, but alas no can do, cos i dont know how yet.
      • 7923
      • 4,213 Posts
      You can select what widget to use when you create a template variable.


        "He can have a lollipop any time he wants to. That's what it means to be a programmer."
      • Garry Nutting Reply #3, 18 years ago
        Hi theagent,

        Take a deep breath .... and breath out wink

        Quote from: thegent at Mar 17, 2006, 01:49 AM

        its all very well having a descriptive section on widgets in the docs but where in hell are they in Modx, how do you use them?????
        Widgets are accessed through the Manage Resources->Template Variables section. Basically, when you create a TV you have the option of selecting a widget to control the output of that template variable. For instance, the Image widget can output a full blown <img> tag when all you have to do is specify the image URL in the TV. Or you can turn a plain textarea into a fully-functional RTE editing area (for use as a second content area perhaps)

        Quote from: thegent at Mar 17, 2006, 01:49 AM
        if i knew how to do it i would write the docs myself, but alas no can do, cos i dont know how yet.
        Yes, I can see how that could be a problem laugh

        Hope that helps, Garry

          Garry Nutting
          Senior Developer
          MODX, LLC

          Email: [email protected]
          Twitter: @garryn
          Web: modx.com
          • 29697
          • 24 Posts
          thanks
          Why is this info not in the docs??????
            • 7923
            • 4,213 Posts
            BTW, When I started to use MODx a while ago, I had exactly the same problem.. I read about the widgets in the documentation briefly, but then had to do a bit of lurking around in the manager before I found the widgets. It is said in the documentation that "they are TV components used to format the Input Value to some desired visual output on web sites"... but maybe it could be said more clearly where to actually find them... or use even a screenshot! shocked ..TV components didn’t say anything to me when I started using MODx grin


              "He can have a lollipop any time he wants to. That's what it means to be a programmer."
            • Don’t feel too bad, they still don’t to me.

              I look at it like walking into a hardware store. I don’t know how to use most of the stuff in there, but I can do pretty good with what I do know, and the rest of it is there for me to learn how to use if I ever want to. And the help is really great about giving a hand when I do start to learn how to use a new tool.
                Studying MODX in the desert - http://sottwell.com
                Tips and Tricks from the MODX Forums and Slack Channels - http://modxcookbook.com
                Join the Slack Community - http://modx.org
                • 29697
                • 24 Posts
                Quote from: sottwell at Mar 17, 2006, 04:27 AM

                Don’t feel too bad, they still don’t to me.

                I look at it like walking into a hardware store. I don’t know how to use most of the stuff in there, but I can do pretty good with what I do know, and the rest of it is there for me to learn how to use if I ever want to. And the help is really great about giving a hand when I do start to learn how to use a new tool.
                Very true but the widget docs don’t say where to find and use them
                • Yeah, I know. But I can’t write about what I don’t know about wink
                    Studying MODX in the desert - http://sottwell.com
                    Tips and Tricks from the MODX Forums and Slack Channels - http://modxcookbook.com
                    Join the Slack Community - http://modx.org
                    • 6726
                    • 7,075 Posts
                    I found out a little about widgets and toyed with those. I use a few (very limited) things because more often than not, I don’t reach the intended results and there so many other things to learn first with MODx...

                    One thing is sure though : with the growth of the community, and especially with skilled people onboard, we’ll get more contribution to the Doc. MODx is one great but feature packed tool and it will take time for us to write a comprehensive doc...
                      .: COO - Commerce Guys - Community Driven Innovation :.


                      MODx est l&#39;outil id
                      • 22940
                      • 16 Posts
                      Quote from: davidm at Mar 17, 2006, 09:25 AM

                      MODx is one great but feature packed tool and it will take time for us to write a comprehensive doc...
                      I’m in agreement with theagent here. When I first tried MODx I was wowed at the sample site and what others had done with it, but when it came to me trying to create a replica of another hand-crafted site I’d built, I kinda hit a brick wall: the documentation, as snazzy looking and up-beat as it is, just isn’t detailed enough for newbies to crack without a lot of effort and trial and error.

                      So, undeterrred, I started my own manual called, surprise, surprise, "MODx for Dummies". It’s structure pretty much followed the main MODx doc structure, but expanded on each little topic in such a way that it became clear as to what it was, how it fitted in with the rest of the MODx system and, best of all an example or two of how to use it.

                      Yes, I was using the the past tense there! All was going well, and I was thinking about making an anouncement about it (in the hope that others would contribute where I had not) when my disk crashed! >:( Lost the lot - no backups, nothing, nada, zero, zilch!! (plonker!)

                      I still have alot of the info in my head and might be able to do a brain dump at some point if anyone would be interested. undecided It’d be a skeleton document at first with just the one or two topics that I’ve managed to get my head around fleshed out. It could be added to by others as and when?